Japan will spend $2.4 billion to establish a joint chip research center with the United States

Japan plans to increase its budget by 350 billion yen ($2.38 billion) to develop research cooperation with the United States on the development of next-generation semiconductors.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the joint research center, which will be established by the end of this year, aims to develop and become capable of mass-producing 2-nanometer advanced semiconductors in the second half of this century. Participating Japanese companies and other details will be announced this month, with participation from the University of Tokyo, Japan Institute of Industrial Technology, RIKEN, companies and research institutions in the United States and Europe.

It is reported that this expenditure is included in the second supplementary budget for this fiscal year, which will also include 450 billion yen to introduce advanced chip production centers into Japan, including 617 billion yen in last year’s supplementary budget. The expenditure on this work will exceed 1 trillion yen. The Japanese government has approved subsidies for TSMC, Kioxia and Micron to build factories in Japan that make chips needed for data centers, artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies.

In addition, 370 billion yen in Japan's second supplementary budget for this fiscal year will be used to secure key materials needed for semiconductor manufacturing.